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Donali, Yipeee! I believe you are going to be a success with or without Casper. Thank you for sharing your progress, what an accomplishment!

Thanks Marie & Babs! I will definitely keep everyone in the loop regarding my leak and possible Band replacement. My doc gave me a pretty good fill, so I am finally getting a good idea about how proper restriction feels. Maybe I can lose a couple more pounds over the next couple of weeks while I am working to get this all figured out. Thanks again everyone:)

Hi Brando, Not sure my response will be much help, but my advise would be to do as much research as possible and talk to your primary care physician. I know that there are a lot of other folks on this board with expertise in the area of Insurance coverage for the band, so I am sure that they will respond to you real soon. It sound like you are an ideal band candidate, so one piece of advise would be to document all of your past weight loss attempts. You want to have as much documentation as possible to send to your insurance company if necessary. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Hi Rica, You should always follow your doctors advise, but don't beat yourself up. Over time and others sharing their experiences here, you will find that all doctors are different and almost everyone is given different instructions on when to move from liquids, to mushy to solid foods. For example, I was on Clear Liquids for a week. Full liquids and mushy foods for 2 weeks and by week 3 I was on solids with the exception of high Fiber foods like salad. I haven't had any food related problems and I have only PB'd once and that was after I didn't chew a bit of salad properly. It sounds to me like you will be fine. Congratulations on your progress thus far. By the way -- that is a lovely picture. Is it from your wedding? Take Care,

Thank you Leatha. I will contact Don at Inamed.

Hi Alex, I completely agree and also know that I am guilty of only showing up when something is wrong. But that is about to change... you all might get sick of me Thank you for sharing your journey. I appreciate hearing about Lap-Band successes as well as those of you who are just chugging along with no problems. Going at your own speed and working with the band in a way that makes it the most natural of daily living. This is how I strive to live my life with my band. Today is a new day and I have a new attitude thanks to all the great friends on this site. Thank you for the continued inspiration.

Welcome Heather. Great job on your progress thus far. It sounds like you are a shining example of the band doing it's job. I hope you enjoy this site as much as I do. Take Care,

Hi Kelly, Welcome. I hope you get as much out of this forum as I do. There are a bunch of really great people on this site. Congratulations on your weight loss. Enjoy!

Hi Tasha, Congratulations on your weight loss. It sounds like you are doing GREAT!!! I think a number of us here struggle with our food choices, so you are definitely in good company. P.S. -- I think that is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen Good luck,

Hi Leatha, I am happy to hear that you are home and feeling better. It sounds like it was more than you anticipated. I wonder if the doc didn't enter at your existing scars because he was not your original surgeon and has his own way of entering patients? Did he have any explanation for you? I am going to need a band replacement due to a leak, but my doc did say she would go at the existing scar sites and also wants to move my port further over to my right side. She has had difficulty accessing my port even under floro. She thinks that my ab work has tilted it around my oblique muscles I guess my exercising is doing something underneath this layer of fluff! I hope you are feeling better soon. Take Care,

Good day Friends, Thank you so much for your support hugs and well wishes. It means so much to know that there are others who know exactly how I am feeling. Rebecca – My hope is that the rest of the year will go more in my favor, but thanks to the positive support I get on this forum… I think I can make it through anything. Alex – Thanks for helping me see the positive side. You are so right, now I know that it wasn’t something I was doing wrong. Vera – Great advise about contacting Inamed myself and documenting everything. I never thought about that, but I will start working on that right away. Donali – You are my hero! You have been so strong and positive over the last month. My goal is to stay at least ½ as positive as you. I would go for 100%, but I think your track record will be hard to equal. Michelle & Debra – Thank you. Just knowing that I can follow others journeys with the Lap-Band gives me a feeling of comfort. I feel much better today and will try to stay positive and move through this as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Thanks again.

That's a wonderful NSV... Thanks for sharing! :D :D

Hi Marie, It looks like these lovely ladies have given you a world of great advise. I just wanted to say that I feel for you and breaking up is never easy. Time is all that will heal with pain in your heart and just as the others have said... Take some time to be with yourself and to realize that you can be happy without a man. Once you realize that you can make it on your own, you will also realize that you don't have to settle on the first man that shows you some attention. You can be picky and still end up with the winning hand! Take care and I hope you are feeling better real soon.

Welcome back Debra! How was your vacation? July 19th will be here before you know it. I can't believe we are in July already. Whew! Where does the time go? Please keep us updated on your progress. Thanks,

Congratulations Teresa!!! :D You are doing great! It is nice to hear about those of us who have restriction even without a fill. I wish I could only eat 1600 cals a day! Boy, I might be able to lose a pound or two. My body hangs on to everything and with only minor restriction, I have only been able to stay around 1800 cals a day. 200 cals seems like no big deal, but when you are like me busy and hungry all the time... I give into my inner voice most times than not. I hope you can continue on this path forward and lose even more without a fill. Keep up the wonderful job. Take Care,

Wow! I haven't checked on Tangerine's site in a while, but I will have to check it out. Great job! Your progress is very motivating. Vera, that was sweet of you to bring this to our attention. Now we can give Tangerine all the kudos she deserves. Take Care,

Hi Donali, I am glad to see that you are bouncing back to your old self and providing us with a wealth of information. Thank you so much for sharing of yourself and your experience... BUT please, please take care of yourself and get plenty of rest. We want you back here 100% as soon as possible! :D Take Care,

Thank you and Lisa for providing us with updates. This is such a difficult time she is going through and amazingly she has nothing but a positive attitude the entire time. I am so glad she is out of surgery and on her way to recovering. Donali - All the best to you and I hope you are feeling well very soon. Take Care,

What a cutie! I LOVE ALL THAT HAIR! Congratulations to you and your family.

Hi Bobby, Do you think you need another fill? You didn't mention how many you have had or at what fill level you are presently. If you feel that you don't have as much restriction as you have had previously, maybe it is time to consider a fill... Although you did mention drinking with your meals... so you might try cutting that out first in order to get a true indication of your restriction. Just my 2 cents and I am no expert!!! That is obvious based on my progress

Thanks Penni, I think I had the author's name spelled incorrectly in my search and then I had to just search on adjustable gastric banding. Anyway, I finally found it and ordered a copy. Thanks again, maybe the link will help someone else who would like to order the book.

I guess I didn't search very hard... Found it on my third try. Thanks,

Hi Michelle (La_Madam), I checked out Amazon as well as doing a search on google and cannot find this book. Please provide any more details. Thanks,

Sorry to keep dragging on with this topic... but would you then say that with proper restriction there is more of a chance you might stretch your pouch than say someone like me who has little to no restriction and food seems to slide through the stoma wish ease? This sounds logical to me, but I guess I still worry that while I am struggling to reach a good restriction level, I have trouble restricting my diet. I can eat about 3 cups of food at each major meal and get hungry every 2-3 hours plus most days I have a snack. I can no longer bindge on huge amounts of food, it is just too uncomfortable (although I have never PB'd) and I also cannot graze all day which was also something I did quite often. I would hate to think that when I finally get some restriction it will be too late because my pouch is stretched... but then if it eventually can return to its original size then maybe I would be OK in the end... I am going to order that book Michelle mentioned... right now! Thanks,

Since the topic is going into scar therapy... I would like to add that I used the silicone gel Patches for aboug 9 weeks and saw some improvement, then my dbf suggested I buy a 99 cent coco butter stick at Walgreens. I used that twice a day for 2 weeks and have seen dramatic results. Far better than those patches that cost $15 a box. I am very pleased with the results. DeLarla, I am glad you are healing well.